Aftermath
by Alia Ziaen
Summary: She told him she'd need an adjustment period. Rose/10, spoilers for Journey's End.


A/N: I have no idea how many of these are floating around since last night, because I haven't checked for any Rose10 parallel fic yet, but this is my take of what happened after Journey's End. I think my characterization of the Doctor is off, based on the quote "He's me when I met you," and I'm writing him as 10, not 9. Maybe I'll fix that later. The shift in tenses was not intentional, and it may throw some people off. But it sounds better that way, I think.

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, though I would very much like my own copy of the Doctor. Just my luck, Rose gets him.

**Aftermath**

She told him she'd need an adjustment period. Thought she may as well give him fair warning. After all, he wasn't _her_ Doctor. He was merely a copy. But it soon became apparent that he could love her just as much as the original could. He just showed it a bit more.

He was just the same to her mother. Her dad, too. Tony would never know the difference. But _she_ looked at him and couldn't help but think of _her_ Doctor, off in another universe, separated from her forever.

What he said on the beach convinced her as much as anything could, but then she saw the TARDIS begin to fade, and she panicked a little, because _she _wasn't on it, and the Doctor was standing right next to her, and no one but him could pilot it. But then he was gone, and there was a pit in her stomach that she never thought anything could fill. Her thoughts raced back to the first time she came here, and the pit grew even worse because this time, there was something in his eyes that said it was really the last time she would see him.

But then his hand was in hers, and a small part of the hole filled.

They went back to England, and Pete and Tony. Everything was a mess, but no more Daleks roamed the streets, and the people were rebuilding.

He never let go of her hand. Once in a while, she would glance over at him, and the pain in his eyes hurt almost as if it was her own. He looked at humanity, at the end of the universe, and he saw all that had been and all that could be. All that was hurt too much.

They exchanged a few brief words on the ride home, but there was too much to think about, much more than there was to talk about just yet. She had been to the end of the universe. And she had been there when it had been forestalled. Torchwood would want to know what had happened, and she wasn't sure she could tell them. She couldn't even talk to the Doctor about it, not yet.

Mum explained to Pete what had happened while she went to settle the Doctor in. He followed her silently, still attached at the hand. When she came to the linen closet, she opened the door and just stood there for a moment.

"Rose?" His voice was soft, gentle, like it always had been. It sent a jolt through her, a shiver down her spine.

She finally looked up at him, and offered a small smile. "I'm going to need both my hands."

He let go, reluctantly, and leaned against the wall. He studied her carefully, looking for something – what, she didn't know. "It's still me, Rose," he said.

Her hands, busy with going through sheets and comforters, pillow cases, stilled, along with the rest of her body. She didn't say anything, but he knew she was listening.

"I remember everything. I remember how much I loved you. How much I still love you. I remember that I'd do anything for you, to keep you safe. I don't know how much you need to be kept safe anymore. From what I've seen, you can take care of yourself fairly well now. I know there are two of me, but this me, the me standing here beside you. I am all yours."

Nothing for seconds that stretched to hours, and then she nodded, and smiled, and grabbed what she needed and headed to a bedroom.

0000000

That night, she ends up on his floor. She remembers hearing his voice one night, calling her name, asking her without asking to come to him. She thinks she hears it again, and so she goes to his room, opens the door just a tad, and slips in. She props a pillow against a wall, and leans against it, watching his bed.

She wonders what he'll do here. Without a TARDIS, without anywhere to go. He never did much care for Torchwood. Maybe he would reconsider. They would need him. They'd certainly needed him before. But in a world with no Doctor, Rose could only take a guess at what needed to be done.

She remembers meeting him for the first time, and the way he just swept her off her feet. Unintentionally, of course, but he couldn't very well help it.

There was only one time she can remember actually seeing him sleep, and it had had her in tears. He looks peaceful, and this time she doesn't have to worry about reviving him because of the monstrous spaceship looming overhead. She'd never actually been able to find his room on the TARDIS.

He turns over restlessly, and his very much awake eyes find hers. He offers a small smile, and she smiles back. "Couldn't sleep?"

She shakes her head. "I keep expecting a Dalek to roll into my room." Her eyes reflect the horror she has seen – something he never intended for her to see. He'd tried to keep her away from the really bad stuff.

"You'd take care of it in a flash." He smiles, and for a second she believes him.

"Not if I were asleep. Besides, Mum doesn't much care for guns in bedrooms. Too dangerous, she says."

He sits up, leans against the headboard. "For once, I think I agree with her."

She doesn't reply, just stands up and climbs on to the bed with him. Something she'd never have even thought to dare to do before, with the Doctor. The original Doctor.

He takes her hand in his, says nothing. It's a natural silence. They were always good at maintaining natural silences, unless there was something he wouldn't tell her.

She snuggles down a bit, tentatively lays her head on his chest. She half expects to hear two heartbeats, but there it is. Only one. She glances up at him, and he smiles. "I'm staying with you. I won't run off. Promise."

For the second time, she kisses this Doctor. Just as suddenly, he has become _her _Doctor.

Rose sleeps soundly tonight. The Oncoming Storm is there, with her. And he will protect her.

**A/N:** Feedback is love!


End file.
